WITH the AFL Commission meeting in Brisbane on Friday, the Lions are putting forward their case for more money to help with facilities and football department spending.
And although he says finalising a deal for a new training and administration facility for the club is a priority, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan stopped short of saying the League would pitch in more money to make it happen.
The Commission met on Friday morning and was meeting with the Lions and Gold Coast on Friday afternoon.
The Lions are more than $1 million short of spending the football department 'soft cap' and also struggle to pay the entire salary cap.
They are also fighting to generate enough funds for a new training and administration centre they hope will be stationed near the Brisbane Airport.
McLachlan said the AFL's current investment of $5 million into the project was "significant".
"It's clear the facilities at the Lions are a concern," he said.
"In the end we will need to have broader partnerships than that, no matter if we increased it, to get this facility to work.
"We're clear now about what the Lions' priority is there and we'll work with them to secure an outcome.
"It's a priority. We'll be going as fast as we can. I think we've come a long way in the last couple of months."
The ions' hierarchy had dinner with the Commission on Thursday night, prior to Friday's official presentation.
Coach Justin Leppitsch said it was a good opportunity to pitch the club's case.
"Most of our things are really just things every other club takes for granted, as far as facilities, spending of the soft cap, making sure we can spend our full salary cap, things most clubs just have at hand," he said.
"That's all we're asking for.
"We deal with the AFL more than the Commission itself … but obviously they approve a lot of things the AFL want to implement, so I think it's important they hear our story."
Leppitsch said spending the entire football department cap would allow the Lions to invest more heavily in player development, leadership and opposition strategy among other things.
"It'd definitely be helpful to just get the base minimum of what every other team in the competition is doing," he said.
"I'm very confident we'll get the new facility and I'm very confident we'll tick all those boxes over time.
"Just at this point in time we're a little bit behind in those areas, that's all.
"We're working hard towards it. It doesn't happen overnight, but we definitely need the support of the game itself and the AFL to help those things with where we are at the moment."
McLachlan said it was a priority for all 18 clubs to pay 100 per cent of the salary cap and "up to" 100 per cent of the football department cap.
